Drugmaker AstraZeneca settles patent case

Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca on Monday said it had settled a long-running patent lawsuit over its top-selling drug Crestor. AstraZeneca said in a statement that the deal would protect its sales of the anti-cholesterol drug until 2016. "AstraZeneca today announced that it has entered into a settlement agreement in its US patent infringement litigation against Watson Laboratories, Inc., Actavis, Inc. (formerly known as Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc.), and EGIS Pharmaceuticals," the company said. Crestor generated $6.25 billion of sales in 2012, down from $6.6 billion in 2011 after losing patent protection in certain regions. AstraZeneca's announcement comes after it last week said it was cutting 3,900 jobs -- in a major restructuring of the group over the next three years. The group currently employs about 57,000 staff worldwide. -- Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this story --